CHAPTER XL 



JOE PYE-WEED, THE STRANGE GIRL AND OTHERS 



The day I learned to know Joe Pye-weed was 

 the very one that Philip found out about the 

 strange girl with straight hair. Tommy had gone 

 away with his father that morning, and while 

 Grandmother was taking her nap, Kate Hood came 

 and asked me to go to Warley Towers to see what 

 Philip was doing. Of course we took the short 

 cut across the meadows. 



Iron-weeds and Thistles and Everlastings were 

 blooming there, and a few Black-eyed Susans that 

 had forgotten to die with all their relatives. Then 

 there was Joe Pye-weed. Kate Hood knew all 

 about this plant, so we stopped a minute while she 

 said: 



" Joe Pye's more like a friend than a weed. 

 Perhaps this is because it has such a funny name, 

 and because it stands up so straight, and is so much 

 taller than other flowers in the meadow. It seems 

 besides as if all the plants must love it, and play 

 it is a great strong friend who has come to take 

 care of them. Look I all Joe Pye's little flowers 

 are pinkish-purple. See in what large bunches 

 they grow, and how very near they are to the 

 top of the stems. Each of the tiny flowers is 

 shaped like a trumpet, and two centeroieces stand 



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